Prisoner swap reshapes Hamas-Egypt-Israel ties

[P F Tinmore]

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The release of an Israeli soldier by Hamas as part of a prisoner exchange with Israel is reshaping complex regional ties, mostly in favor of Gaza's once isolated Islamic militant rulers.

The swap, mediated by Egypt, has strengthened Hamas' bond with the regional powerhouse next door and removed a major irritant from its fraught relationship with Israel.

Trading Sgt. Gilad Schalit for 1,027 Palestinians held by Israel also boosted Hamas' flagging popularity at home, at the expense of its main domestic rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was forced to watch from the sidelines.

Hamas leaders portrayed the swap, the most lopsided in Israel's history, as a victory for the movement's hard-line ideology. Israel only understands the language of force, they said in a jab at Abbas, who until recently had put his faith in negotiations, with little to show for it.

Beyond the popularity at home, the swap has deepened Hamas' relationship with Egypt, its most important ally.

The swap helped boost Egypt's stature as a regional power against competitors Iran and Turkey. In the final phase of the negotiations, Hamas showed flexibility to ensure success, in part to avoid alienating Egypt, analysts said. Hamas made sure that Schalit's first interview, after emerging from captivity, was given to Egyptian television, apparently to highlight Egypt's role.

Prisoner swap reshapes Hamas-Egypt-Israel ties - Yahoo! News

 

[JStone]

Time Magazine: Globally Isolated and Economically Crippled: Why Hamas is Losing Gaza

Besieged by Israel and the West, which regards it as a terrorist group, and cut off from the Palestinian majority in the West Bank, Hamas has little to offer beyond its jihadist credentials — and the promise of clean government. So it's hardly surprising that the party has been rapidly losing ground in its stronghold. Recent surveys by leading pollsters conclude that if elections were held in Gaza today, Hamas, an acronym in Arabic for the Islamic Resistance Movement, would not be returned to power. A June poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that Hamas would get just 28% of the vote, a steep decline from the 44% plurality it won in 2006.

Especially alarming for the Islamists is a precipitous drop in support for the party among Gaza's youth: two-thirds of the population is under 25. In a March survey taken in the afterglow of the protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square that led to the ouster of Egypt's dictator, Hosni Mubarak, more than 60% of Gazans age 18 to 27 said they too would support public demonstrations demanding regime change.

Soon after that poll, 10,000 turned out at a rally to voice a more modest demand — that Hamas end the bloody rift with Fatah, the secular party it bested six years ago. Hamas sent thugs to break up the demonstration. "We came out to say the people should be united, and they attack us!" says Shadi Hassan, 22, who lives in a refugee camp and sells cigarettes. "We are suffocated, and we need regime change."

Even party stalwarts agree that they've lost the street. "The majority of people want a change, yes," says Ahmed Yusuf, a former deputy foreign minister for Hamas who now runs a think tank called House of Wisdom. "They are not happy with the way Hamas is governing Gaza. Wherever you look is miserable life." Forty percent of Gazans live in poverty. The rate of unemployment is approaching 50%, among the highest in the world, and is likely to worsen as the population of 1.6 million doubles in the next 20 years. "Because they believe in God, they don't think a lot about the future," says Gaza economist Omar Shaban, who heads the Pal-Think think tank. "You won't find someone in Hamas who is thinking about 2045. They say, 'Oh, God will provide.'"

Globally Isolated and Economically Crippled: Why Hamas is Losing Gaza - TIME

 

[Ropey]

^So swapping a thousand for one is a thing to be proud of PF. Do you remember we are willing to swap your live for our dead?

There's the true value of life imo.

 

[P F Tinmore]

^So swapping a thousand for one is a thing to be proud of PF. Do you remember we are willing to swap your live for our dead?

There's the true value of life imo.

The only fact is that Hamas had Israel over a barrel. All that other stuff is merely smokescreen.

 

[JStone]

^So swapping a thousand for one is a thing to be proud of PF. Do you remember we are willing to swap your live for our dead?

There's the true value of life imo.

The only fact is that Hamas had Israel over a barrel. All that other stuff is merely smokescreen.

Israel trumps the Arab world

DOHA: There is no doubt that Israel is superior to all Arab countries in the sphere of Information Technology, a comparative study between Arab nations and Israel on ‘Scientific Research and Patent Rights Compared’ conducted by Dr Khalid Said Rubaia, a Palestinian researcher at American Arab University in Palestine, says.

Israel spends 4.7 percent of its total GDP on scientific research, which is the highest in the world. However, Arab states are spending 0.2 percent of their total incomes and Asian Arab countries around 0.5 percent of their incomes on research, said
the report.

Regarding patent rights, Israel has registered 16,805 patents. However, Arab countries have only 836 patents which is 5 percent of what Israel has.

Israel spends 0.8-1 percent of the total expenditure of the world on research work and Arab states spend 0.4 percent. It means Israel spends more than double that spent by Arab countries in
this field.

Israel spends 4.7 percent of its income on research. However, Arab countries spend 0.2 percent of their total income on the same. United States spends about 2.7 percent of its income, UK 1.8 and Germany 2.6 percent on research work.

Asian Arab countries spend less than 0.1 percent of their total income on research work which is five times less than African countries which are spending 0.5 percent of their total income, according to a Unesco report. Arab countries spend about half of Israel though their GDP soared 11 times that of Israel and the area is more than 649 times.

Regarding per capita expenditure on scientific research, Israel stands at the number one position by spending $1272.8 per capita. United States ranks second with $1205.9 and Japan third by spending $1153.3. However, the Arab countries ranked hundred times less than Israel by spending an average of $14.7 annually per capita.

And the oil rich Asian Arab countries spend $11.9 per capita which is equal to African poor countries whose per capita expenditure reached $9.4.

 

[jillian]

^So swapping a thousand for one is a thing to be proud of PF. Do you remember we are willing to swap your live for our dead?

There's the true value of life imo.

The only fact is that Hamas had Israel over a barrel. All that other stuff is merely smokescreen.

the only fact, terrorist supporter, is that 1 israeli is worth 1000 pals.

i wouldn't be bragging about that if i were you, troll.

 

[P F Tinmore]

^So swapping a thousand for one is a thing to be proud of PF. Do you remember we are willing to swap your live for our dead?

There's the true value of life imo.

The only fact is that Hamas had Israel over a barrel. All that other stuff is merely smokescreen.

the only fact, terrorist supporter, is that 1 israeli is worth 1000 pals.

i wouldn't be bragging about that if i were you, troll.

Israel, with all its mooched money and weapons, has been attacking Palestinian civilians for over 60 tears and has not won yet.

Not much to base a superiority complex.

 

[JStone]

The only fact is that Hamas had Israel over a barrel. All that other stuff is merely smokescreen.

the only fact, terrorist supporter, is that 1 israeli is worth 1000 pals.

i wouldn't be bragging about that if i were you, troll.

Israel, with all its mooched money and weapons, has been attacking Palestinian civilians for over 60 tears and has not won yet.

Not much to base a superiority complex.

Israel Venture Capital: The Silicon Valley of the East

Israel, more fondly nicknamed as the “Silicon Valley of the East”, is the largest recipient of United States venture capital, absorbing 7.7% of outbound investment dollars. For a small and relatively new country, Israel has jumped into the limelight as one of the largest producers of new technologies. The country is responsible for some of the most prominent inventions over the past several decades, including drip irrigation, instant messaging (ICQ), Intel’s Centrino computer chip, and voicemail technology.

Israel also holds the second greatest number of foreign companies on the NASDAQ, second only to Canada. Some of the more prominent multi-billion dollar corporations listed on the exchange include TEVA Pharmaceuticals (market cap: $41 billion), the world’s largest generic drug manufacturer, and Gilead Sciences (market cap: $43 billion), which develops therapies for viral diseases, infectious diseases, and cancer.

In 2008, over $2 billion was invested in 480+ Israeli high-tech companies, an increase of 18% over the prior year. Roughly 50% of funds came from outside of Israel, primarily from the United States, which has also shown significant investment in Israel by building Israeli satellite offices for American companies. In 1974, Intel chose Israel as the location for its first design and development center outside the United States, and thereafter opened 8 locations, employing over 5,300 employees. International companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Nokia, and Motorola have also followed in the footsteps of Intel Corporation by opening offices in Israel.
Israel Venture Capital: The Silicon Valley of the East | Growthink

 

[P F Tinmore]

Over 60 years and the Palestinians will not surrender.

Israel has won no land and still has no borders.

 

[JStone]

Investor's Business Daily: How Free Israel Prospers As Islam Remains In The Dark
How Free Israel Prospers As Islam Remains In Dark - Latest Headlines - Investors.com

Israel, a New Jersey-sized nation of 7.5 million people (1.7 million of whom are Arab) filed 7,082 international patents in the five years ending in 2007. By contrast, 28 majority-Muslim nations with almost 1.2 billion people — 155 times the population of Israel — were granted 2,071 patents in the same period. Narrowing the comparison to the 17 Muslim nations of the Middle East from Morocco to Iran and down the Arabian Peninsula, the 409 million people in that region generated 680 patents in five years.
This means that the Arab and Iranian world produced about one patent per year for every 3 million people, compared with Israel's output of one annual patent for every 5,295 people, an Israeli rate some 568 times that of Israel's neighbors and sometime enemies.

The awarding of Nobel Prizes in the quantitative areas of chemistry, economics and physics shows a similar disparity, with five Israeli winners compared with one French Algerian (a Jew who earned the prize for work done in France) and an Egyptian-American (for work done at Caltech in California).

But wealth isn't the sole explanation for this disparity in intellectual innovation. Saudi Arabia enjoyed a per capita income of $24,200 in 2010. Yet the Kingdom averages an anemic 37 patents per year compared with Israel's 1,416 per year — and there are 3 1/2 times more Saudis than Israelis, meaning that Israel's per capita output of intellectual property is 132 times greater than Saudi Arabia's.

The telltale signs of Israel's economic rise can be seen in the Tel Aviv skyline and the new office complexes around Jerusalem. International giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. was founded in 1901 by three pharmacists in Jerusalem. Today it employs 40,000 around the world. Teva has a market cap of $44.2 billion — the most highly valued company based in Israel and the ninth-largest firm traded on the Nasdaq

A few miles from Teva's gleaming office campus west of the Old City sits the former national mint building for the British Mandate. Built in 1937, this renovated building, along with the old Ottoman Empire railway warehouses next to it, houses the JVP Media Quarter and 300 entrepreneurs.

The complex hosts Israel's leading venture capital firm, Jerusalem Venture Partners, as well as 35 startups and a performing arts center for good measure. JVP, which has helped launch 70 companies since 1993, has more than $820 million under management with seven active venture capital funds.

The Media Quarter concept was created in 2002 when JVP founder Erel Margalit wanted to create a media-focused incubator that combined technology, culture, art and business. JVP has shepherded 18 initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, including some of the largest Israel-based companies: Qlik Technologies, Netro Corp., Chromatis Networks, Precise Software, Cogent Communications.

Less than 300 miles separate the purposeful creative buzz in the JVP Media Quarter from the restive streets of Cairo, where the Muslim Brotherhood tells Egypt's unemployed that their plight is the fault of corrupt capitalists and Jews. It doesn't take a Nobel Prize-winning economist to figure out where these two economies are going.

 

[P F Tinmore]

Still no land or borders.

 

[Ropey]

Back to the (now two way) diatribe.

Enjoy boys....

 

[JStone]

CNBC: Israel, Business Leader And Innovator
Israeli Industry - CNBC

Israel's economy has been constant from agriculture in the early days to high tech, medicine, science to its newest industries today solar and green tech. Israel boasts the largest desalinator in the world

Israel is a leader in water technology, pharmaceuticals and green technology,

Warren Buffett: "What you have here is a remarkable group of people doing remarkable things in their field achieving terrific results all over the world."